Study: Only 20 Percent Of Tablet Owners Are Willing To Pay For Media Apps

Most major publishers have acceded to Apple’s terms, to one degree or another, for selling subscriptions to app versions of their titles—in part because the iPad is likely to remain the dominant tablet. In return, these publishers are betting that they’ll be able to make enough advertising and subscription revenue to ease the pain of forking over 30 cents from each dollar of revenue. A study (pdf) by the Online Publishers Association shows that publishers still have some very heavy lifting to do before they can realize those goals.

The study, prepared by consultancy Frank N. Magid Associates, finds that 93 percent of tablet owners have downloaded apps (I can’t imagine what the other seven percent are using it for—just web browsing and e-mail?) and the average user owns about 20 apps. That show that the appetite for apps is pretty limited, making it difficult for magazines and newspapers to compete with the likes of Angry Birds and Ultimate Mortal Kombat.

Other findings:

—The most popular kinds of apps are in categories for weather (41 percent of current tablet owners have downloaded such an app). That’s followed by entertainment (40 percent), news (34 percent), sports (27 percent).

—Newspaper apps have been downloaded by 26 percent of tablet owners, while only 20 percent have downloaded a magazine app.

—Nearly half of tablet users say they’d rather pay for apps as long as it guarantees little or no advertising in exchange.

—Paid apps account for 26 percent of all apps downloaded; 79 percent of those who have downloaded an app have paid for them.

—On average, users spent $53 on apps in the past year.

The study also found that while a range of payment options for media apps are preferred—users want to be able to choose from paid subscriptions, single issue copies and a one-time paid download—a majority of tablet owners have no desire to pay for newspapers, magazine or TV shows. For those three categories, 34 percent of users aren’t interested in paying for magazine or newspaper apps, while 31 percent wouldn’t pay to watch a TV program download. The number of those who would be willing to pay is around 20 percent across all categories.

As publishers like to remind observers, these are still “early days.” The thinking is that as tablet adoption rises—again, the OPA’s report projects 23 million owners by next year—consumers will get more used to paying for content and accepting ads, just like in the good old days when the traditional print model was the only game in town. But these “early days” numbers are based on consumers who are also considered more affluent, sophisticated and media savvy than the rest of the population. If publishers can’t do better with this group, is there really much more hope that they’ll do better with a wider array of consumers?

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The study, prepared by consultancy Frank N. Magid Associates, finds that 93 percent of tablet owners have downloaded apps (I can’t imagine what the other seven percent are using it for—just web browsing and e-mail?) and the average user owns about 20 apps. That show that the appetite for apps is pretty limited, making it difficult for magazines and newspapers to compete with the likes of Angry Birds and Ultimate Mortal Kombat.

Other findings:

—The most popular kinds of apps are in categories for weather (41 percent of current tablet owners have downloaded such an app). That’s followed by entertainment (40 percent), news (34 percent), sports (27 percent).

—Newspaper apps have been downloaded by 26 percent of tablet owners, while only 20 percent have downloaded a magazine app.

—Nearly half of tablet users say they’d rather pay for apps as long as it guarantees little or no advertising in exchange.

—Paid apps account for 26 percent of all apps downloaded; 79 percent of those who have downloaded an app have paid for them.

—On average, users spent $53 on apps in the past year.

The study also found that while a range of payment options for media apps are preferred—users want to be able to choose from paid subscriptions, single issue copies and a one-time paid download—a majority of tablet owners have no desire to pay for newspapers, magazine or TV shows. For those three categories, 34 percent of users aren’t interested in paying for magazine or newspaper apps, while 31 percent wouldn’t pay to watch a TV program download. The number of those who would be willing to pay is around 20 percent across all categories.

As publishers like to remind observers, these are still “early days.” The thinking is that as tablet adoption rises—again, the OPA’s report projects 23 million owners by next year—consumers will get more used to paying for content and accepting ads, just like in the good old days when the traditional print model was the only game in town. But these “early days” numbers are based on consumers who are also considered more affluent, sophisticated and media savvy than the rest of the population. If publishers can’t do better with this group, is there really much more hope that they’ll do better with a wider array of consumers?